Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) status of Snar Farm, Lanarkshire: EIR release

Information requested

It is understood that Snar farm in Lanarkshire is undergoing an EIA.

1. What is the FGS reference number for Snar Farm?
2. When was a pre-app consultation made for this scheme?
3. Please provide all documents in relation to scoping, such as the scoping report, scoping opinion, and the correspondence from the forestry agents requesting that an EIA be carried out.
4. Did the forestry agents ever apply for a screening opinion? If so, what date was this made?
5. Why is Snar farm not listed on the Scottish Forestry EIA projects webpage?
6. Is Snar Farm listed on the register of woodland creation schemes?

Response

As the information you have requested is ‘environmental information’ for the purposes of the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (EIRs), we are required to deal with your request under those Regulations. We are applying the exemption at section 39(2) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA), so that we do not also have to deal with your request under FOISA.

This exemption is subject to the ‘public interest test’. Therefore, taking account of all the circumstances of this case, we have considered if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exemption. We have found that, on balance, the public interest lies in favour of upholding the exemption, because there is no public interest in dealing with the same request under two different regimes. This is essentially a technical point and has no material effect on the outcome of your request.

We have responded to your request as numbered above.

Response to your request

1. What is the FGS reference number for Snar Farm?

No Forestry Grant Scheme (FGS) application has been submitted therefore there is no such reference number.

2. When was a pre-app consultation made for this scheme?

A pre-app enquiry WCP-745 was logged on 7 August 2024

3. Please provide all documents in relation to scoping, such as the scoping report, scoping opinion, and the correspondence from the forestry agents requesting that an EIA be carried out.

A request to adopt a Scoping Opinion was submitted to Scottish Forestry on 30 May 2025. Documents related to scoping are included with the release for this request.

A scoping meeting was held on Thursday 18 September 2025 at Crawfordjohn Hall, Manse Rd, Crawfordjohn, Biggar ML12 6SR between 1pm and 4pm.

The Scoping Report is currently being prepared by the applicant.

The Scoping Opinion will be prepared once the draft Scoping Report has been received and shared with those attending the Scoping Meeting.

4. Did the forestry agents ever apply for a screening opinion? If so, what date was this made?

No Screening Opinion Request was submitted.

5. Why is Snar farm not listed on the Scottish Forestry EIA projects webpage?

Snar Farm is listed on Scottish Forestry’s Current Applications for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Consents page here:

https://www.forestry.gov.scot/current-eia-cases

6. Is Snar Farm listed on the register of woodland creation schemes?

Snar Farm is not listed on the Scottish Forestry Public Register of Woodland Creation and Felling as there is no Forestry Grant Scheme application for this property.

Given the volume of documents included in our response, copies of the information we hold in relation to your request will be emailed to you separately.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide some of the information you have requested because an exception under regulation 10(5)(e) of the EIRs (commercial confidentiality) 10(5)(g) (protection of the environment) and 11(2) (personal information) applies to some of the information you have requested. Please see Annex A for the reason(s) this/these exception(s) apply.

ANNEX A

REASONS FOR NOT PROVIDING INFORMATION

​​​​​​​Commercial confidentiality

​​​​​​​An exception under regulation 10(5)(e) of the EIRs (commercial confidentiality) applies to some of the information requested because it would make public information on the location of a private water supply of a business that is reliant on that water supply for its commercial operations.

​​​​​​​This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. In this instance we consider that there may be a public interest in disclosing this information as it may contribute to the transparency of decision making on the application in question, but that this interest is outweighed by the public interest arising from ensuring the business in question can operate without risk to its water supply.

​​​​​​​Protection of the environment to which the information relates

​​​​​​​An exception under regulation 10(5)(g) of the EIRs (protection of the environment) applies to some of the information requested because it would make public the locations of nesting and breeding sites of species protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and other protected species designations.

This exception is subject to the ‘public interest test’. In this instance we consider that while there may be a public interest in disclosing this information as it may contribute to the transparency of decision making on the application in question, this interest is outweighed by the public interest arising from the protection of these protected species from the potential risk that would arise from publishing their exact nesting and breeding locations, for example from disturbance, egg collection, nest/sett destruction, etc.

​​​​​​​Personal data relating to third party

​​​​​​​An exception under regulation 11(2) of the EIRs (personal information) applies to some of the information requested because it is personal data of a third party and disclosing it would contravene the data protection principles in Article 5(1) of the General Data Protection Regulation and in section 34(1) of the Data Protection Act 2018. This exception is not subject to the ‘public interest test’, so we are not required to consider if the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in applying the exception.​​​​​​​

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

EIR 202500489179 - Information Released - Annex

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